High Point Wins 2025-26 Sasser Cup Trophy
HILTON HEAD, S.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) –
High Point University has been awarded the Big South Conference’s
George F. “Buddy” Sasser Cup Trophy for the 2025-26 athletic season, marking the school’s fifth consecutive year achieving the top overall athletic season in the Big South. The Cup was presented to High Point Thursday evening at the league’s annual Hall of Fame & Awards Banquet, which was held at the Westin Resort & Spa in Hilton Head, S.C. The Panthers also clinched the league’s Women’s and Men’s All-Sports trophies for the third-straight year -- becoming the first member institution to sweep all three awards in back-to-back-to-back seasons.
In 2025-26, High Point averaged 9.23 Sasser Cup points in 15 championship sports and accumulated a total of 138.5 points based on its finish in conference regular-season and championship competition. The Panthers won 16 combined Big South championships in 2025-26 -- five regular-season titles and 11 tournament crowns. High Point was the regular-season champion in men’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball, along with a share in volleyball, and claimed the conference championship titles in women’s cross country, women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s golf, and men’s and women’s outdoor track & field.
Charleston Southern finished second to High Point this season with a 6.27 average in 15 sports and totaled 94 points -- the Buccaneers’ third consecutive Runner-Up finish.
UNC Asheville was third in the standings (5.52 average) -- its second third-place standing in three years.
USC Upstate (5.30) and
Radford (5.22) round out the top five.
FINAL 2025-26 SASSER CUP STANDINGS CHART
High Point claimed the Women’s All-Sports Trophy for the eighth-straight time to extend its Big South record for consecutive crowns with its average of 9.50 (76 points earned in eight sports), ahead of Radford’s 6.42 average (57.75 points earned in nine sports). High Point finished as the Big South champion nine times in women’s competition to capture the Women’s All-Sports Trophy. Charleston Southern was third in the Women’s All-Sports race with its 6.00 average (54 points earned in nine sports).
HPU earned the Men’s All-Sports Trophy for the third consecutive year, as the Panthers won the Men’s All-Sports title with an average of 8.93 points. High Point won Big South championships in men’s soccer (regular-season and tournament), men’s indoor track & field, men’s basketball (regular-season and tournament), men’s outdoor track & field and baseball (regular-season). Charleston Southern was second with an average of 6.67 points (40 points in six sports), followed by USC Upstate at 6.29 (44 points in seven sports) -- the Spartans’ second-straight third-place standing.
The Sasser Cup Trophy is named for former Big South Commissioner
Buddy Sasser (1989-96) and is awarded to the Big South member institution with the most successful year athletically, based on an average points system. Points are awarded for both regular-season and tournament finishes in each of the League’s 18 sponsored championships, and the average of the combined total is used to determine the overall point allocation in the respective sport. One bonus point is added to the average total for each Conference Champion/AQ representative, as well as any teams that receive at-large NCAA Championships berths. Teams tied in regular-season or tournament play split the points earned. Each member’s overall point totals are then divided by the number of sports sponsored by that school to determine the average.
The complete listing of the 2025-26 Sasser Cup and All-Sports standings appear below, as well as the annual Sasser Cup champions.
2025-26 Sasser Cup Standings
1. High Point - 9.23
2. Charleston Southern - 6.27
3. UNC Asheville - 5.52
4. USC Upstate - 5.30
5. Radford - 5.22
6. Gardner-Webb - 4.74
7. Winthrop - 4.66
8. Longwood - 4.59
9. Presbyterian College - 3.73
2025-26 Women’s All-Sports Award
1. High Point - 9.50
2. Radford - 6.42
3. Charleston Southern - 6.00
4. UNC Asheville - 5.75
5. Longwood - 4.89
6. Gardner-Webb - 4.60
7. Winthrop - 4.444
8. USC Upstate - 4.437
9. Presbyterian College - 2.59
2025-26 Men’s All-Sports Award
1. High Point - 8.93
2. Charleston Southern - 6.67
3. USC Upstate - 6.29
T-4. Presbyterian College - 5.25
T-4. UNC Asheville - 5.25
6. Winthrop - 4.93
7. Gardner-Webb - 4.91
8. Longwood - 4.25
9. Radford - 3.68
Annual Sasser Cup Champions
2025-26 - High Point
2024-25 - High Point
2023-24 - High Point
2022-23 - High Point
2021-22 - High Point
2020-21 - Campbell
2019-20 -
none - incomplete season due to COVID-19 pandemic
2018-19 - Campbell
2017-18 - Liberty
2016-17 - Liberty
2015-16 - Liberty
2014-15 - Coastal Carolina
2013-14 - Coastal Carolina
2012-13 - Liberty
2011-12 - Liberty
2010-11 - Liberty
2009-10 - Liberty
2008-09 - Liberty
2007-08 - Liberty
2006-07 - Coastal Carolina
2005-06 - Coastal Carolina
2004-05 - Coastal Carolina
2003-04 - Coastal Carolina
2002-03 - Liberty
2001-02 - Liberty
2000-01 - Coastal Carolina
1999-00 - Liberty
1998-99 - Liberty
1997-98 - Liberty
1996-97 - UNC Greensboro
1995-96 - UNC Greensboro
1994-95 - UNC Greensboro
1993-94 - Campbell
1992-93 - Campbell
1991-92 - Campbell
1990-91 - Coastal Carolina
1989-90 - Coastal Carolina
1988-89 - Coastal Carolina
1987-88 - Coastal Carolina
1986-87 - Winthrop
1985-86 - Winthrop